curious second hand ad
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Alfanatic

Original Poster:

9,339 posts

240 months

Thursday 31st January 2008
quotequote all
Just spotted this ad in the classifieds.

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/355544.htm

Advertised as an '85 with side trims removed and old dash fitted for retro looks... fails to mention that the window frames on the doors and quarterlights have also been sprayed body colour, presumably also for retro looks! Only thing they didn't do is remove the second side mirror.

That seems like a lot of effort to go to to make an '85 GTV6 look like and '81 GTV6. Do people do this kind of thing a lot, or is this ad really trying to pass off an earlier car as an '85 model for some reason (I can't even think why that would be done)?

jimmyjam

2,418 posts

240 months

Thursday 31st January 2008
quotequote all
Maybe its more by accident. Perhaps...when he tore the dash apart trying to get to the bottom of that elusive electrical problem he broke it, then bought the wrong dash off ebay to replace the old one and thought what the heck, I'll keep it and say I'm being retro. Then, when he took a corner too tight he wiped out the side trim, instead of replacing it he decides to continue with his retro theme!! Long shot but a pretty good guess!!
Either way, I think it looks ok, although there are no interior shots.

Alfanatic

Original Poster:

9,339 posts

240 months

Friday 1st February 2008
quotequote all
Yeah. Also while scraping the side trims off he scratched the paintwork, and in the respray the window surrounds and B-pillar ended up body colour instead of black... actually I believe that the '85s were also two tone with black bottom third to paintwork, so the change would require more than just removing the sidetrims.

It's all feasible - those cars are old enough to make replacing the dash, resprays and removed bits of worn trim common.

I just don't get why you'd want an '85 to look like an '82. Especially the dash. I thought the '85 looked much better. But on the other hand, these cars are so old and so similar that I also don't see any advantage in selling an '82 while pretending it's an '85. In short, I can't find a solution that doesn't trigger my bcensoredt alarm, which unfortunately makes me too suspicious to investigate what might otherwise be a very cheap GTV6 regardless of year.

Edited by Alfanatic on Friday 1st February 13:21

xyyman

1,093 posts

246 months

Saturday 2nd February 2008
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The seller is quite well known in AROC circles and has sold all manner of things through the club for many years. Have never heard anything to suggest he is a conman. Just recently a fellow member bought a 3.0 converted 155 from him and is very happy with his purchase.

jimmyjam

2,418 posts

240 months

Sunday 3rd February 2008
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Aah of course, I didn't see the name. Its GTV Vince. He is well known for breaking/buying/selling GTV's, 75's and 155's. He has a website WWW.GTVINCE.COM

Alfanatic

Original Poster:

9,339 posts

240 months

Tuesday 5th February 2008
quotequote all
Ooh! Nice one all, thanks for the info - and the link!